SOCCP: Brunetta6's Skypiea Edition!
by Brunetta6
Summary: When Vera Rosethorne - a seventeen-year old fangirl already a stranger to the One Piece world - purchases a bizarre dial at a shifty New World shop, she is inexplicably thrown back 2 years in time to the Skypiea Arc! The 2YL Mugiwaras already knew about Vera, but how are the pretimeskip ones going to handle a semikami from the future... who can't even speak Japanese?
1. 600 Berries and The Golden Cerith

**WELCOME ONE AND ALL! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, DUCKLINGS AND NOT!**

**The other day, I received a prompt from my faithful SOCCP duckling and protégé DCKiyoshi for my Between the Lines drabble fic… What would happen if my lovely OC Vera Rosethorne ended up in his favorite One Piece arc, the Skypeia Arc? Well, I was immediately struck dumb by the sheer awesomeness of the idea. And I wanted to do it. But then we agreed it'd be even cooler to have a friendly competition and make two different versions! His and mine~!**

**So, here is ****my**** first chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**600 Berries and The Golden Cerith**

"Ikuso, omaera!"

"Hai, hai…"

It was a bright but sunless day in the New World as the pirate ship Thousand Sunny dropped anchor off a small spring island, her figurehead – that of a golden lion with a petaled mane – seeming to smile at the sound of her crew bickering and laughing as they assembled on deck, antsy to get ashore. The air was cool enough to want a light jacket, but layers on layers of blinding white clouds had forced several of the Strawhat Pirates into sunglasses. One of them was the "Cat Burglar" Nami; the Sunny's navigator tossed her lush, fiery hair and counted the heads on deck. "Ichi, ni, san…" she mused.

Then the woman paused, squinting around. "Vera wa?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Nine heads turned as the tenth and newest member of the Strawhats dashed out from Franky's workshop, nearly folding herself around a railing in her haste. "Oof. Ow!"

Rosethorne Vera pushed herself off the banister and rubbed her head, breathing hard and wincing. She was a pretty, seventeen-year old girl with glittering dark eyes, a beauty mark on her left cheek, pale copper skin, and an impish personality; hair long and wild as her mischievous streak. So much so, it was usually tied back in some way, shape, or form. Today, it had been bound into a thick, low-riding braid down to her waist, soft brown curls springing free to curl around her face and ears. As the Strawhat's one and only otherworldly nakama, Vera didn't have the agility, strength, or endurance of the others – nor the language skills. Fluent in English, but only so much Japanese as she knew from watching anime subs. "Wari, wari!" she called, flipping down her sunglasses as she rattled down the steps. "I thought I lost my iPod, then I panicked, then I found it charging in Mod's head of all places and climbing a ten-foot-tall Iron Man dancing to Skillet is even harder than it sounds."

Vera jumped the last two steps to the grass, landed, and darted over to join the Strawhat's ranks. "What'd I miss?"

* * *

"Well, now that everyone's here…" Nami glanced pointedly at their only brunette. "Vera."

"_Sorry_!"

"I can hand out your shares for today. Line up!" The nine other Strawhats scrambled to get in a neat, single-file line in front of their navigator; she gave them each a small packet of Berries and their orders as they passed. "Franky, you're getting cola. Chopper, you're with Franky, and Brook, you're watching the ship."

Their skeletal musician hung his head. "Nami-san, you're so harsh!"

Nami ignored him and handed Sanji their food money. "Sanji-kun, you're buying groceries as usual."

"Hai, Nami-swan~!" The cook accepted his share and beckoned to Vera – who had been his unlikely but faithful protégé for a while now. "Did you hear that? I'll teach you how to choose a good spring melon, today. But don't lag behind! You know I couldn't live with myself if you got lost, Vera-chan!"

* * *

Vera smiled brightly at him. She knew the drill; her sexy blonde sensei was tough in the kitchen, but nothing if not reasonable. "Hai!" she chirped. "It's always educational around you, Sanji-sensei!"

* * *

Sanji melted a little inside. "You called me sensei again, you damn little brown noser!" he grinned, messing up her hair a bit. Hunching her shoulders, Vera giggled and chattered at him, only swatting halfheartedly at his hand.

Zoro rolled his eyes at the sickening interaction between the ero-cook and the chijo. "Oh, gag me with a –"

"Actually!" Nami interrupted. The three involved fell silent, staring at their navigator as she plopped the smallest packet of all into the marimo's big, calloused hand. "Vera-chan is coming with Robin and me. Usopp will help you today, Sanji-kun!"

"Eh?" Usopp pointed at himself blankly. "Me?"

Sanji looked between his protégé and his beloved fiery redhead. "But…" he whimpered, aiming a pathetic look at the Strawhat navigator. "Nami-san…!"

"She's coming with us!"

The cook hung his head and trudged over to Usopp, his will broken. "Hai…"

Nami beckoned to Vera, who – although confused (this was certainly outside of the normal routine) – wandered over to take her place beside Robin. "We'll teach you how to choose a good spring _shampoo_ today, Vera-chan!" she chirped, rubbing the brunette's wild mane. "And don't lag behind!"

* * *

Vera pouted. "Awwww! Why do I have to go with _you_, Nami-neechan?" she whined.

_SMACK_.

"ITAIIIII!"

* * *

"You're the one always using up all our shampoo and conditioner!" Nami roared, breathing fire as she shook her fist over the steaming lump on Vera's head. "You should at least have to come with us to buy more!"

"All right, all right!" the brunette whined. "I get it!"

Robin chuckled and patted her head.

"Ahhhhhhh?" Luffy exclaimed. Vera squeaked as his rubber arms twined around her torso from behind, then aimed a flat glance at his pouting – albeit very cute – face when he stuck it under her arm, scarred cheek just barely brushing her right breast. "She's going with Nami and Robin? That's weird! If we're mixing groups, can I come, too?"

_WHACK. WHACK. _

Nami popped both of them in the head again. "No!"

"Owww! Why'd you do that, Nami?!"

* * *

Vera rubbed her bruised skull, wincing in pain. "Why'd I get hit again?!" she muttered indignantly to herself. She tapped Luffy's head, which had been forced to her hip. "And will you let go of me, crazy boy?"

_Awwww, don't make him let go~!_

Deep in the recesses of her seventeen-year old brain, an office door labeled "Hormones" opened up. Out popped the voice of her whimsical, fandom-dictated side of thinking – AKA The Inner Fangirl. _He's soooo kawaii! _she squealed. Fangirl popped out of the right side of her brain and spiraled down to Luffy's face.

She patted his cheek adoringly. _ I mean, look at dat face…_

The rubber boy huffed adorably – then saw Vera looking down at him. He grinned up at her. "Shishishi~!"

Vera immediately turned bright pink and pressed her hands to her cheeks, twisting her body in what could only be described as a total fanspasm; smiling like a retard the entire time._ DANGIT, HE IS KAWAII!_

Then she felt the office door in the left side of her brain open – the big, solid oak one labeled "Common Sense" – and out came her voice of reason. Her conscience. Which happened to take the form of her college medical graduate, sexy librarian glasses-wearing, twenty-three year old stick-in-the-mud of an older sister, Evangeline. But to her friends and family, she had been nicknamed Vange. Ergo, Inner Vange.

The woman folded her arms sternly and leaned against the doorframe. _Honestly! Do you two have no sense of feminine pride?!_

Ergo, the ultimate killjoy.

_WHAT?!_ Fangirl wriggled back into Vera's right ear, raced across her neurons, and got right up in Inner Vange's face. _How dare you be immune to Luffy-chan's kawaiiness! Thou art not human!_

She pulled a magical girl transformation into a boxer's outfit and gloves. _EN GARDE!_

Inner Vange just stared flatly at Fangirl. …_Idiot._

_Ding!_

_**HWABAM!**_

* * *

A sweat drop trickled down Nami's temple. _Maybe I hit her too hard,_ she thought. Vera's face was bright red, fingernails scratching at her head like she was rubbing in shampoo. _She looks like she's having an apoplexy._

* * *

The bell rang again. _Ding ding ding!_

Fangirl lifted her gloves as the audience roared, chest heaving, sweating bullets, basking in the glory of victory. Then she whirled dramatically, pointing in a random direction that happened to be Vera's internal camera lens. _NOW GLOMP THAT CUTE SUCKER!_

_I'll get you one day…! _Inner Vange moaned in the background.

Luffy raised his eyebrows in concern. "Oi," he began. "Are you oka–?"

Arms fastened around his face.

He blinked in confusion. "Ah?"

And only had time to make one squeak of surprise before he abruptly found his head buried in cleavage. Turning bright pink, Vera squealed happily, keeping him in a smothering headlock as she jumped up and down – normally, Luffy would have tried to get out of it, but her breasts were soft and smelled really good. So he just left his head there and waited for her to finish.

_This is actually kinda fun!_ he thought.

"RUBBER BASTARD!" Sanji roared. A vengeful inferno of crimson flame encompassed the cook, but he wouldn't dare aim a kick at Luffy with Vera so close. "YOU LET GO OF MY PROTÉGÉ RIGHT NOW!"

"She's holding onto me! I can't do anything!" Luffy lied terribly, voice muffled by Vera's chest through pursed lips and nervous sweat, eyes sliding all the way up and to the left.

"LIKE HELL YOU CAN'T!" Sanji snarled. "YOU SHITTY LIAR!"

Nami and the rest of the crew sighed resignedly. They all knew Luffy had a training-wheel crush on their otherworlder; of course, that never went over well with her overprotective sensei. But what went through Vera's head about the baka rubber captain was anyone's guess. Heck, _anything_ that went through Vera's head was a mystery. _Especially when she does stuff like this._

Then the navigator flipped down her shades. "You're with Luffy!" she commanded, pointing back at Zoro. "Keep him out of trouble!"

The swordsman glared at their hyperactive captain, who was smiling (whether he was aware of it or not) from the chijo's cleavage. The rubber man really didn't know what he was getting into. The swordsman had been on the receiving end of those hormones before – and it had ended with him being ambushed in the shower, forced to streak butt naked across the Sunny, and bashed on the head by the ero-cook several times. "Easier said than done…" he hissed through his teeth.

"You'll do it or I'll increase your debt by 300 percent! Let's go ashore, everybody!"

"YEAH!"

* * *

**.oOo.**

About half an hour later, Vera released an exasperated breath. "Can't you just choose a scent so we can freakin' _go_?" she moaned. The brunette held out her hands, frustratedly miming a scale. "Green apple, lilac, whatever that is, they're all _shampoo_! Just pick one!"

"Matte, matte…" Nami picked up yet another bottle.

The semikami groaned, leaning back against the wooden frame of a vender's cart and watching other shoppers hustle and bustle and bargain at the other stands. The blinding white clouds illuminated the air itself, intruding into every corner, every crevice, under her sunglasses… even erasing her own shadow. It felt like Moria had stolen it. The light was annoying enough, but the fact they'd apparently walked in on this marketplace on the equivalent of Black Friday at noon just made it worse. Sure, this stand was the only place on the island that sold natural hair products, but Vera could have always cared less about what she put in her hair – as long as it didn't cause split ends and got everything clean. Her female nakama, however, seemed to have high standards for their own silky manes.

Nami examined the label on her newest find and turned to show Robin. "Koreha?" _How about this?_

The archeologist tapped her mouth indecisively. "Ahhh…"

Vera knocked her head repeatedly against the frame. _We are going to be here __**forever**__. I so should have gone with Sanji-sensei!_

Fangirl appeared on her right shoulder, wearing devil wings and sexy red prada. _You could always go explore~! _she chimed.

Inner Vange materialized on her left to counterbalance Vera's voice of impulsiveness; the short-haired brunette had been forced into a white choir dress, swan wings, and a halo. Her big sis was outraged by the unflattering saintly costume. _ What am I wearing?!_ she demanded.

Then she crossed her arms, smoky brown eyes glaring from over her stylish glasses. _And didn't you learn anything from the hundred-odd times you got lost in the mall when you were little? I do. Mom always told me I was supposed to be watching you, but I look away for one second and you're gone! Do you want to do the same thing to these women?_

Vera thought about it for a second. Leave for a moment and possibly find something really cool and interesting in this marketplace, or stay and die of boredom and Japanese gobbledegook? Yeah, that was a toughie.

_Screw this, I'm bored. _

Inner Vange and Fangirl disappeared in a poof of smoke. The girl waited for a moment – watching Nami and Robin to make sure they were absorbed in the new shampoo bottle – then casually rolled off the wooden frame and slipped away into the crowd. Immediately, she found herself swallowed up by the mobs of people, propelled through the marketplace so fast her feet barely touched the ground. Vera's eyes got big for a minute. But after traveling on the ocean for weeks on end, even she knew better than to swim against a powerful current; she tucked her arms close in to her body and waited it out. Then, without warning, the crowds suddenly vanished in front of her. The brunette yelped and staggered forward, arms spinning as she tried to keep herself from falling on her face. But finally, she managed to regain her balance.

Vera straightened and looked up. She had been deposited in front of a shop door.

She eyed the sign above the entrance skeptically. It was painted with clouds and what looked like angels and seashells. The text was in Japanese – she couldn't read it – but the place looked far less than legit, with stones falling out of the walls and the door hanging on rusty hinges. But the windows were whole and clean in their frames. There was no sign of graffiti, or overly shifty stuff. And it was right next to thousands of people going about their business…

_Aw, why not?_ Vera thought, taking hold of the knob. _I'm only here for a few minutes, anyway._

She turned the knob and pushed it open. "Ohayo?"

She walked. The first thing she noticed was that it was a small, dim shop. Only the light from the windows and a guttering oil lamp in the corner illuminated the dark interior. The walls were mostly obscured by rickety wooden shelves, stacked with seashells of all shapes and sizes – but what she could see of them had once been painted sky blue, but stained a grainy grey by dust and time. Behind the counter, the shopkeeper's head whipped up. His face lit up at the sight of a customer; he was a grizzled old guy who looked like he hadn't shaved his bristly white whiskers in months, and wore an odd outfit to say the least… a spangled pointed hat, robe, coke-bottle glasses, and men's sandals over thick woolen socks.

"Ooooh, kokyaku!" the wizened old man exclaimed. "Ni kite! Ni kite kudasai!"

* * *

"Ooooh, a customer! Come in! Do come in!"

He whipped out a roll of sackcloth from underneath the counter and slapped it down, unrolling it in a flash and a puff of dust. Shells long kept from the light of day clicked against one another. "Look at my wares!" he insisted in the overeager tones of a poor salesman. "I'm sure I have something you'll like! Come in! Come in!"

* * *

Vera balked at his tumbling Japanese (and the fact that his sorcerer's robe didn't quite cover his knobby old knees).

But after a moment, she decided it would be rude to just walk out after being welcomed so spectacularly. So she walked up to the counter and ran her eyes over the shells he'd spread out. She wouldn't let herself be intimidated; she'd picked up some basic phrases of buying and selling after weeks of food shopping with Sanji-sensei. She could hold her own against this witch guy. Probably.

"Anata wa nani o utte imasu ka?" the girl asked, stumbling a bit over the pronunciation. _What do you sell?_

"Daiyarus!"

_Dials?_

Vera's eyes flicked up to his face. "Hontou ka?" she asked skeptically. "Honmono diayarus?" _Really? Real dials?_

* * *

"As real as they get! Straight from the Sky Islands to you!"

The shopkeeper picked up a flat, red shell from the counter and showed it flashily to his prospective new customer. "Now, how many times has this happened to you? It's a sweltering hot day and you'd just kill for a breeze, but there's not so much as a newspaper to fan yourself with? Here's your solution! So sleek! So lovely! And it creates a lovely breeze! Just hold it up to your face on a hot day, press the apex of the shell, and viola! It's called a Breath Dial!"

He peeked at the girl. She stared at him incredulously.

The shopkeeper set down the red shell hurriedly and picked up another. "All right, maybe that's not your style, but look at this one!" he exclaimed, presenting a curled conch-looking dial in his palm. "Tell me, have you ever been on a camping trip with friends and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get the fire started? Here's your solution! It's compact! It's functional! And it starts a lovely, natural fire every time! It's called a Flame Dial! _Now_ how much would you pay?"

* * *

"To make it _stop_?" Vera groaned.

The grizzled old man stared up at her. He hadn't been expecting that. "Eh?"

She pointed at the red dial. "Impacto Dialu."

She pointed to the twisted one. "Tone Dialu. Don't screw with me, Majo-ossan." Vera turned away to look at the other shelves, cringing at the very thought. _Geez, trying to sell an Impact Dial to the face? This guy's insane!_

* * *

'_Witch-ossan?'_

Behind her back, the shopkeeper's eyes bugged. _How dare she! _he exclaimed silently, disbelieving. He rubbed his whiskers. _But still, she knows about dials?_ _Gonna have to up my anty to get a sale out of this one._

* * *

Vera's eyes ran over the merchandise, making sure to keep her gaze impartial. This shelf was actually pretty interesting. Before, the Witch-ossan had been showing her dials any member of the One Piece fandom would have recognized, but over here were new ones of every shape and size – from basketball-sized conchs to baby crab-shell dials no larger than the end of her little finger. Some of the smaller ones, she saw, had been painted and strung to become necklaces.

_Oooh! Pretty!_ Fangirl chimed.

_They look cheap_, Inner Vange grouched.

Vera leaned closer to look at the rack of necklaces. _Oh, hush, _shereplied_. You always got on me for liking these sorts of things._

Suddenly, one in particular caught Vera's eye. She looked over at it. It was a cerith dial; the other shells were either blue or white or black, but this one was painted gold, decently small with three spined tiers, strung through at the tip with a cheap black cord. It was no bigger than a Pink Pearl eraser. There were no cracks or scratches that she could see.

Vera picked it up. "Kore wa nanida?" she asked, marveling at its weight. It felt lighter than it should have been.

* * *

"What's this?"

"Ah!"

The grizzled shopkeeper was at her side in an instant. "You have a discerning eye! That, my girl, is an exceedingly rare dial that can make your wildest dreams come true! Just by making a simple wish, it can teleport you back through space and time! You could witness or play a role in things you've only dreamed of! The day your parents met, the day you were born, or something more spectacular like the War of the Best, or even Gold Roger's first battle!"

_At least that's what that old Skypiean told me, but I never got it to work! _The Witch-ossan remembered, pursing his wizened mouth indignantly. _ Apparently only a person who's already "transcended a world" can use the damn thing!_

Hiding his frustration, the old man smiled and rubbed his hands together. "Sounds cool, ne? And it's all yours for a low price of 600 Berries!"

* * *

Vera frowned.

Then shrugged and tossed him a few bills. "Iio," she agreed.

She slipped the long black cord over her head. _Well, no matter _what_ he said it's probably not true. These backstreet venders will say anything to make a buck, _the semikami thought, pulling her braid out from under it. _Look at that "Golden Apple" salesman from the Alabasta Arc. But it'll make a nice trinket, it was only six bucks, and it's pretty._

She bowed to the Witch-ossan. "Arigatou," she thanked him with the politest smile she could manage. "Sayonara!"

The old geezer was too busy counting his money to pay much attention. Vera rolled her eyes, walked to the door, and pulled it open. _Still, it's kind of nostalgic. Sky Islands, huh?_

She smiled to herself. _It would be cool to go to the Skypiea Arc, wouldn't it?_

She started to walk out… when she heard a whisper.

The brunette blinked and turned back to the Witch-ossan. "You say something?" she asked.

He glanced up. "Eh?"

Vera's eyes narrowed; apparently, he hadn't. _Am I going crazy?_ she wondered. She fingered her new pendant pensively and went to walk out again. _Maybe it's just my imagination – OW!_

She reeled, yanking her hand away from the shell. It hadn't actually hurt.

But the thing was… _hot_.

Suddenly, a series of images flashed before her eyes.

_In the distance, Montblanc Cricket watched the Knock-Up Stream soar into the clouds in a massive pillar of roaring cerulean water. The flying mode of the Going Merry. Then, Vera heard the whisper again. It wasn't the Witch-ossan. These were familiar, familiar voices shouting in Japanese…_

* * *

"_WHAT THE HECK'S GOING ON?!"_

"_The ship's going straight up on a pillar of water!"_

"_This is neat~!"_

"_HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?!"_

* * *

Vera blinked hard. Those voices! Those were Usopp and Sanji-sensei and Luffy.

"_Kaze?"_

That was Nami, now!

The girl stared down at the small golden shell. It was really rocking and rolling now, searing red-hot on her chest whenever it touched her skin. She hurriedly tried to pull it off. It burned her again, this time for real. "Ouch!"

She was starting to sympathize with the Usopp voice in her head! What the heck was going on?!

* * *

"_Alright! Now we can go to the sky! Go, Merry!"_

There was a roar of wind, then Sanji's voice came back, sounding nervous. _"Hold on! I don't think it's gonna be that easy! The hull's starting to float! If this thing keeps up, we're gonna be sent flying to our doom!"_

"_W-What can w-w-we d-do?!" _ Usopp's lips were flapping so hard it sounded like he was standing in a wind tunnel. _"We can barely even hold on!"_

"_Hey, look! It's the Sea King from earlier!"_

The Strawhats watched the massive yellow-green beast hurtle past the Merry, back to its sure death on the ocean far below. "See?!" Sanji yelled. "It's only a matter of time before that happens to us!"

* * *

Vera shielded her eyes. She couldn't see the shop at all now! The light from the dial was starting to get painful, and the voices in her head were feeling more real with each second. The wind picked up. Her hair whipped, the sharp end of her braid viciously slapping at her arms and face.

Suddenly, she felt a foreboding rumble under the floorboards. The sensation rang a bell. It was just like…

* * *

"AAAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed, his little reindeer eyes bugging as the shattered remains of an entire ship fell past their heads – broken barrels and splinters of wood smacking the Merry as it passed. "Lots of stuff is falling! Victims of the Knock-Up Stream!"

"We're goners, too!" Usopp wailed in despair. "We're gonna fall and slam into the ocean and die!"

Nami gazed intently up into the monsoon. This was wind, and this was water. So maybe…! "Spread the sails! Right away!" the navigator cried.

"Eh?"

"This is the sea!" Nami explained hurriedly, her eyes flicking back to the section of the Knock-Up Stream still before them. "Not just a pillar of water! It's a rising current! And the wind blowing from below is a rising air current produced by the geothermal heat and steam explosion! If we're dealing with wind and sea, I can navigate it!"

She smiled confidently at the rest of the crew. "Who's this ship's navigator?"

The others stared at her for a long second, like they weren't sure if she was crazy or not. But Nami didn't waver… and sure enough, a moment later Sanji broke the silence with a heart-shaped eye and an adoring "You are, Nami-san!"

He turned to the others, his tone changing to that of authority. "Alright, men! Do what Nami-san says!"

"YEAH!"

The sails unfurled. "Catch the starboard wind and pull the helm to port!" Nami ordered. "Align the ship with the current!"

"YES, SIR!"

"Oh, no!" Chopper screamed, staring wide eyed over the banister. "The ship is about to leave the water!"

Even Luffy started to panic by that point. "We're gonna fall! We're gonna fall, Nami! Do something, Nami!" he screamed.

"No."

There was an intense look in the redhead's eyes. "We can make it!"

That was when – with one hard, splashing jolt – the Going Merry parted from the surface of the Knock-Up Stream and began to soar up the side of that giant wall of water. Wind and brine flew into their faces. The bottom dropped out of all their stomachs.

"WE'RE FLYING!" Luffy threw up both fists toward the sky. "AWESOME! THE SHIP IS FLYING!"

"Is this for real?" Usopp muttered privately to himself, disbelieving.

Nami smiled in relief. "We did it…"

Even Zoro looked impressed. "Wow!"

"Nami-san is wonderful~! _And I love you_!" Sanji fawned, bellowing his declaration of love at the top of his lungs.

* * *

It came to Vera just as the Dial reached its climax of light – shining like a supernova at her throat. It felt exactly like when she had left her world and arrived in this one!

Then, the ground dropped out from under her. She screamed bloody murder.

And free-fell down the side of the Knock-Up Stream.

* * *

Luffy looked back at Nami from his seat on the Merry's head, holding his straw hat on his head so the wind wouldn't blow it away – not seeing the pinpoint flash against the black clouds and the small, screaming speck that flew out of it, falling straight towards him. "Hey, Nami!" he yelled. "Are we almost at sky island?!"

The navigator, however, had seen the flash.

She squinted. _What the hell…?_

Suddenly, Nami's eyes widened. "Holy crap, that's a person!" she shrieked, pointing. "Luffy, look out!"

"Eh? AHH!"

The rubber man turned around… and was promptly slammed in the face by the catastrophic force of a hundred and thirty-five screaming pounds of teenage girl accelerated by a hundred meters of free fall. He and the unexpected projectile hurtled down the deck, bounced off the railing (eliciting a rather girlish scream from Usopp), and slammed into the door of the cabin with such force it broke open. They crashed into the storage room and lay there – in a discombobulated tangle of arms and legs. Boshi flew off his head, caught by the winds and carried away to the clouds.

Usopp yelped, seeing it go. The hat was a tiny yellow speck in an instant…!

And then it was gone.

"OH SHIT!" the sharpshooter screamed. He flailed his arms about in a panic, yelling at the others. "Guys, Luffy's hat! It went up there! Guys? GUYS?!"

"_Luffy_!"

Usopp smacked himself in the forehead. _Oh, duh! Come on, man, where are your priorities?!_ "Luffy!" he yelled. He dropped to the wall and scrambled over to the broken doorframe, where the other six Strawhats stared down into the storage room, stunned. He stuck his head all the way in, eyes wide with urgency. "Your hat just got blown away –!"

Then, what he saw registered.

Usopp blinked. "Huh?"

Luffy's eyes were spinning like hypnowheels, brain scrambled by the triple-impact – which was strange enough since he was a rubber man! Blunt attacks shouldn't affect him; but even stranger was the thing that had struck him in the first place. Usopp had been expecting to see a big fish or piece of wood, like the rest of the debris they'd seen falling earlier… but it was…

A _girl_. No older than fifteen, wearing clothes that were too big around the hips and shoulders, with a long brown braid that was half undone, as if it had been tied too far down expecting the hair to be longer. And there were… _things_ on her teeth.

Usopp squinted. "Is that _metal_ in her mouth?"

**…**

The Dial vender blinked dumbly at the empty threshold to his shop. The girl had just disappeared. In a flash of light. The only thing that remained of her was the tiny golden Dial she'd purchased – just lying there, on the ground.

His whiskered jaw dropped. _It worked?! I should have charged her more!_

**.**

* * *

**A/N: Not a bad start. And it gets better~! Oh, and for those of you who don't know where the OC comes from, she's from Brunetta6's fanfiction "Slightly Overdone Chocolate Chip Pancakes" on this site. Check that out if you want. And since I did this in that one, too, a few things to mention about Skypeia Edition…**

**1. Needless to say, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SKYPEIA ARC.**

**2. Like SOCCP, this is a prototype fanfic I call a "partial songfic." If a specific song is mentioned in the context, I would recommend playing it as you read on, for maximum enjoyment of the content!**

**3. Rated T for language, violence, sensual/slash situations, suggestive dialogue, and references to a character from Highschool of the Dead. (Look her up if you want to understand the humor behind it, but watch the anime at your own risk! Fair warning: It's, like, MA for language, gore and boobs…)**

**Leave a comment below and check out DCKiyoshi's version of SOCCP in Skypeia… and don't forget to tune in for the next segment, where Luffy discovers Boshi is missing and Vera gets a rather nasty surprise~! **


	2. Fifteen Again

**UGH, IT'S BEEN MONTHS! It's just been so time-consuming with my main SOCCP fic. But no excuses! Those of you who have anticipated this chappie (you know who you are) have waited long enough for my horrible writer's block. So, without further adieu…**

**Here's the second chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

**Fifteen Again**

Blinding whiteness surrounded them all. It was too quiet, like everyone's ears had been stuffed with cotton. The air was warm, but it felt far too thin… too easy to breathe. Aboard the Merry, the Strawhats sucked at the oxygen – minus Usopp, who had passed out – hacking water from their lungs and feeling like they'd just been hit by a ten-ton truck. Sanji coughed loudly on one side of the deck. Robin gasped frantically, blue eyes wide in the wake of their terrifying ascent. Chopper whined pathetically.

Zoro spoke first. "Damn…!" he cursed breathlessly, chalk white under his bronzed complexion. "What happened? Is everyone here?!"

Luffy sat up; apparently, their captain was the only one who'd remained unaffected. "Hey, guys! Look outside the ship!" he exclaimed, an excited look in his eyes and his usual big, banana-split grin on his face.

They obeyed, and were stunned by what they saw.

Sanji exhaled in awe. "What is this place?!"

"PUUUUUURE _WHITE_!" Luffy answered, grinning happily.

Everyone rushed to the rail, only to see that their captain was right! Like the brightly lit clouds on a sunny summer day, it was all fluffy, pure, cottony white… above them, under them, all around them! It was a fantastical view, like something out of a storybook.

"Clouds?!" Chopper squealed, overcome by excitement.

Nami was floored. "We're in the _clouds_?!" she exclaimed disbelievingly. "How are we staying on them?!"

Luffy looked at his navigator like she was a little weird. "Of course you can stay on them. They're clouds!" he said matter-of-factly.

Sanji and Chopper looked at him like _he_ was a little weird. "_No, you can't…_"

Suddenly, the little reindeer saw their sharpshooter's limp, unconscious body and started to panic. "GAAAH! Usopp isn't breathing!"

"_What_?! Do something! CPR!"

"Yosh! I'll give Nami-san CPR~!" Sanji declared.

Zoro stared flatly at the clouds. "Moron."

"USOPP, SAY SOMETHING!"

"Clouds…" the long-nosed sharpshooter whispered. Then he sat up, eyes bugging. "WHAAAAAAAAT?! These _are_ clouds! No, there's too many! _What is this_?!"

Nami, however, kept her head, gazing up at this fairy-tale phenomenon with a sailor's eye. "So… this is an ocean in the sky?" she murmured, still awestruck.

Usopp's jaw dropped when he looked over the railing. "An ocean…?! In the sky…?!"

Nami frowned thoughtfully and looked back at her log pose. The red end of the needle was at slightly less of an angle – maybe at 45 degrees now, versus the 85 or 90 from before – but it was still at an angle. "But look!" she declared, pointing this out to Robin. "It's still pointing upward."

"It seems we're in the middle section of the cumuloregalis clouds," their archeologist deduced.

"We need to go even higher?" Chopper asked her incredulously. "_How_?"

"That, I don't know."

The little reindeer adopted a pensive expression. "Hmmmm…"

Then, suddenly, he seemed to remember something. "Ah!" he exclaimed, ears pricking up. "But before we do that!"

"Hm?"

Everyone turned to watch Chopper as he vaulted off the railing, crossed the ship, and stopped beside the mystery girl that had crashed into Luffy. She lay sprawled on the wooden deck where she'd landed after the Going Merry's splashdown, her long brown hair fanned out around her back and over her face. Water now saturated her ill-fitting clothes, and dripped off her hair in thick, fat drops.

He hunkered down and lifted one of her limp curls, peering suspiciously at her unconscious features. "Who is she?"

* * *

"…_anojo wa?"_

Vera twitched, squirming deep in the folds of unconsciousness. Now looking back on the situation, she wondered if she should have tried to stay that way for a bit longer. Being out cold was kind of interesting. Different than sleep. When you're asleep, you stare at a sparkling black haze, and time loses its meaning – and when you wake up, you feel refreshed. Also, Vera could always tell when she was asleep. If she doubted reality, she would try to listen with her ears. Dream-people always spoke in a strange, silent mishmash that only she could understand.

For Vera, unconsciousness was a bit different. It was more like a very comfortable blindfold, lined with wool from a black sheep. Entirely dark, no sparkles. However, there were dream-people, and they were speaking in a strange mishmash of language.

However, it was far from silent. But at least it was in voices she recognized.

"Sarani jūyōna koto ni…" Zoro's deeper voice commented.

He sounded like it came from across a huge, empty room, echoing hollowly in her ears, but Vera could practically feel the swordsman's eyes narrow suspiciously at her. The brunette tried to move her fingers; the stubborn digits refused to respond. "Kanojo wa _nani_?" he continued, sounding guarded.

"K-K-Kanojo wa doko k-kara kita?" a quavering tenor asked. Usopp, no doubt about that one.

Finally, she realized, the ringing in her ears was starting to clear up – even if she was still pretty lightheaded. Vera heard Nami answer Usopp. "Kanojo wa sora kara ochita."

Suddenly, a set of fingers stretched her lips apart. The semikami squeaked in surprise on the inside.

"Kanojo no ha ni nani ga?" came Luffy's familiar tones.

In her mind, Fangirl's curiosity finally reached a breaking point. _AGH! _she roared in frustration. _ Kanojo wa, kanojo no?! WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY SAYING?!_

Vera searched her internal stockpile of Japanese. _I think it's something like anata wa or watashi wa, but in third person, _she replied. _"He," maybe. Or is it "she?" _

Then something occurred to her. _Wait, are they talking about me?_

_Makes sense, you __**are**__ unconscious. I bet they're concerned!_

Inner Vange rolled her eyes. _Of course. It would be that idiot rubber man sticking his fingers into an unconscious person's mouth._

Vera and Fangirl blinked, considering that.

Then they shrugged at each other. _Eh._

Suddenly, Usopp's voice returned with an urgency. "O-Oi, Luffy!" he yelped. "Kigamagireru shinaide! Anata no boshi wa tonde ikimashita!"

"Nanda?"

The fingers came out of Vera's mouth. There was a moment where no one spoke. Then…

"KYAAAAAAAH! BOSHI WAA?!"

"_Iya osoi_!"

Vera rolled her eyes internally. That was their Luffy, all right. That aside, she rubbed her fingers over the surface beneath her – trying to figure out where she was without quite opening her eyes to the blinding light.

* * *

Meanwhile Chopper, who had assumed his position over a possibly injured (if possibly dangerous) girl, watched this all unfold with wary, if fascinated eyes. He knew that straw hat was Luffy's treasure. What was going to happen to them now? Would they continue to the dream island, even after the Knock-Up Stream? And what was with this _girl_ falling out of the sky –?!

"Hmm…"

"AH!" The doctor jumped at the small sound. He spun on his hoof to find the source. His eyes went wide. Next to him, the strange person was stirring, fingers rubbing the deck for some reason.

"Guys!" Chopper panicked. "The sky girl's waking up!"

Everybody froze.

* * *

Wooden boards.

Cold water dripped through her scalp. The semikami shivered and groaned – rolling her neck as she finally forced herself to sit up, her long hair trailing droplets of clear, fresh-smelling water as she went. She was probably back on the Sunny. But it didn't explain why she was all _wet_…!

Then, Vera blinked, realizing there was a sudden absence of noise.

Her head whipped up – immediately flinching when the blinding white sunlight stabbed at her eyes. The girl made a pained noise and threw a hand over her face, blinking repeatedly. Finally, when she could stand it…

She opened her eyes just a crack. And froze.

Her eyes slowly.

Got.

_HUGE_.

Vera whipped her head side to side, brain scrambling as it frantically tried to disprove what her eyes were telling her. Seven people stared warily back at her, seeming discomforted by her alarmed, jerky motions.

Luffy, Chopper, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Nami, and Robin.

However, they certainly didn't look like the Mugiwaras she had been sailing with for two weeks on the Thousand Sunny. Luffy had no Marineford scar. Nami and Robin's hair was shoulder-length. Zoro had both eyes. Sanji's flaxen hair was shorter and the _right_ side of his face was revealed instead of the left; his eyebrow curling to the _outside_, not the inside. Usopp was skinny and wimpy-looking – but for that matter, all of them did compared to the Mugiwaras she had been sailing with for _weeks_ on the Thousand Sunny! These looked younger. These looked…

_**Pre-timeskip?!**_

Wait. Why were there clouds again?

_**SKYPIEA PRE-TIMESKIP?!**_

* * *

Chopper backed off a few steps, quailing slightly at the earth-shaking look of alarm in the sky girl's eyes. "G-Guys?" he called tremulously.

Zoro stepped forward, a hand on his katana; Chopper saw it and jumped. "Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell are you doing, Zoro?! She's might be injured, and she's just a kid!"

"Sometimes the biggest surprises come in small packages," the swordsman replied, sagelike. "It's best to be cautious, right?"

"Oooh!" Sanji made a mockingly impressed face. "Nice thought, marimo. You should write it down before it dies of loneliness in that big empty skull of yours."

"_What'd you say, shitty cook?! I'll cut you up_!"

"Yeah?! Bring it!"

"Oi. Oi. Guys, will you quit it?" Usopp muttered, waving his hand at them as they started to bicker. "I think there are more important things to worry about right now."

Luffy screamed. "Ah! Like my hat!"

The rubber captain rushed over to the girl on the ground and got in her face. "Oi, where'd Boshi go?!" he demanded angrily. He pinched her cheeks, stretching them as far out as they go. "You can talk, can't you?! Answer me!"

Sanji's shoe left an imprint in his hair. _WHAM_. "DUMBASS!" the cook roared. "You don't just get in a lady's face like that!"

Luffy whined a complaint and landed in Vera's cleavage with a quiet _plop_.

Sanji erupted into flames. "AND WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FALLING?!"

Suddenly, the blonde choked – seeing the mystery girl pat Luffy's head absentmindedly, as if she was used to it – and sank to the deck in a quivering blob of jealousy, his vengeful fire quenched as quickly as it had ignited. "You shitty lucky bastard…!" he sobbed.

* * *

All of a sudden, Vera's face lit up.

"Ahhhh!" she exhaled, relieved. "I bet it wash that shell I bought chat chransported me here! Well, atch leasht I'm shtill in a One Peesh world and not in, like, Higurashi or shomshi…"

She stiffened.

Then she tried again. "…shomshing like cha…" Her blood turned to ice water. Her hands flew to her mouth. It felt like there was something on her teeth. Something she hadn't had since she was –!

Vera touched metal brackets on her front teeth.

…Yup.

Braces.

"_GRAAAAAAAAH_!"

Luffy yelped and sprung from her lap, immediately entering a fighting position. Fabric rustled, shoe soles squeaking on the soaked deck of the Merry as the surprised Strawhats did the same; Vera didn't even notice. She was too busy freaking out. "A-A-Ah!" she stuttered, eyes wide as tea saucers. "N-Noh noh noh noh. WHATCHA HEY?!"

She sprung to her feet. "W-Where'sh a mirror?!" she demanded.

* * *

"Surround her! She's trying something!" Nami yelled.

Usopp and Chopper screamed and clung to each other, paralyzed by terror. But the other Strawhats obeyed, forming a semicircle around the stranger and the wall. The girl spun, saw she was surrounded, and seemed to grow even more agitated, pointing fingers and yelling at each of them in a strange language – which was admittedly muffled by the hand she held over her mouth with a mortified expression.

Sanji blinked. "What is that?"

He looked at Chopper. "Can you translate it?"

"IDIOT! That's not an animal language!" their doctor snapped.

* * *

"Thish ishn't _funny_, _bakash_!" Vera yelled.

Robin's eyes narrowed, vaguely recognizing the phonetic pattern of the foreign words that came tumbling from those lips. _Is that…?_ she wondered.

But there wasn't time to finish that thought when the agitated girl yelled something else…

"Shcrew thish!" Vera shrieked, fed up.

…And ran at Zoro.

* * *

The swordsman drew his katana and shifted his feet apart, baring his teeth in a grin of anticipation. "Come on, then!" he challenged her. He placed Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, bringing Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri together in an X of razor-sharp steel to block her first attack – which he had expected to be aimed at his torso or face.

He hadn't expected her to skitter to a stop before him and put a hand on his package.

Zoro balked and turned bright red, eyes bugging down at her hand and jaw dropping so far he nearly dropped Wado. _WHAT THE HELL DOES SHE THINK SHE'S –?!_

* * *

Vera's fingers quickly located the two smaller, harder lumps beneath the main body. _ Ah, here they are._

She adjusted her fingers around the left one, getting a good hold on the sac…

And clenched down.

HARD.

"_GWOOOOOH_!"

A shapeless roar of agony reached to the heavens. Zoro's head hit the deck so hard the Merry shook, falling onto his left side, trembling like a leaf and feeling like a hot iron had torn through his gut. He dropped both swords with a _clang_ and grabbed his stomach, swallowing violent nausea.

Vera quickly skirted his shivering body, the look on her face less than apologetic as she darted past him and opened a door. She wasn't worried; he'd shake it off. "Wari!" she called absently.

* * *

_Slam_.

She didn't even look back. The Strawhats stared at the closed door… then at the sorry state she'd reduced their swordsman to. Jaws hit the deck.

"…_**EEEEEEEEH**_?!"

Zoro's head popped up. "She _groped_ me!" he roared.

"_So quick!_"

* * *

**...**

Vera broke into a run, her soaked shoes chafing something terrible as she squished her way noisily down a corridor on her way to find a bathroom. She lost her way several times; the hallways were way too short and there weren't enough doors! It didn't make sense! In retrospect, she'd been traveling on the Thousand Sunny – a larger brig sloop ship – all this time, not a small caravel class like the Going Merry, so it was expected for her to get lost. Nonetheless, by the time she actually found a bathroom Vera felt like Zoro lost in the castle at Muggy Kingdom. Where apparently in _this_ crack world he hadn't been yet!

She slammed open a door to see a toilet and sink.

"Finally!" she gasped, rushing inside.

She slapped her hands on either side of the sink, stared into the mirror, and shrieked in terror. "HWAAAA?!"

The reflection of a younger girl gaped back at her, exposing a mouthful of braces on mostly-straightened teeth and a head slightly too large for her shoulders. Blackheads speckled her hairline. Her bra was too big. The waist of her shorts sagged, too. She touched the loose areas, stunned. Her limbs were long and gangly, her hands and feet not as proportionally small in comparison; like a petite person who had grown a lot in a short space of time. It _was_ Vera…

But back in her awkward years. Back at _fifteen_ _years_ _old_.

The semikami girl gaped in horror at her reflection for a few long, awkward seconds.

Then, she reached up to touch her altered bone structure – and flinched slightly when they connected, and she actually felt it. She wanted to pinch her face next, but back then her skin had been much more sensitive, and even something like that would make the area embarrassingly red and blotchy for hours. So Vera settled for a puzzled scowl into the mirror. _My age reversed?_ she marveled silently, pulling at her shortened braid. It was still pretty long – to the middle of her back – but it didn't brush her waist and elbows like it usually did. She felt a little naked without the familiar sensation. _How does that even work?!_

Vera blinked, feeling like she was forgetting something. _Work…? OMIGOSH MY IPOD!_

Feeling like she was about to have a heart attack, the semikami groped her back pocket for the device, exhaled in relief when she felt its familiar bump, then nearly went into cardiac arrest _again_ when she felt that it was as soaked as she was. She yanked it out and desperately pounded the power button; to her massive relief, it came on with no hitches.

Vera let out a massive breath. "Holy crab…!" she muttered to herself, laying her music player on the countertop to dry. "Tank the Lord for lifeproof cashesh, I am not even _joking_!"

Suddenly, something tapped against her breastbone. Eyebrows raised, Vera glanced down her soaked shirt – and pulled out the gold shell necklace she'd bought at that weird dial shop. "Thish shurvived too, hm?"

The semikami lifted it, examining it for cracks. When suddenly…

It _buzzed_.

**-o-O-o-**

The golden shell lay steaming on the floor.

Hiding behind the cash register, the dial shopkeeper peeked over the countertop with wide eyes behind his thick coke-bottle glasses. He stared at the golden shell incredulously, pushing his pointed hat up over his forehead. Sure enough, no trace of that girl remained.

_ No way… _he thought to himself. _That bullcrud story was true after all?!_

Inching out from behind the counter, he picked it up.

_Don't tell me…?!_

Disbelieving, the grizzled old man pressed the apex – sending a signal across time and space.

**-o-O-o-**

**Bzzzzzzz**.

Vera jumped when the shell buzzed in her hand like a cellphone on vibrate. Staring at it critically for a second, she lifted it… and cautiously pressed her forefinger down on the tiny apex.

_Click! _

She held it to her ear. "Uh… moshi moshi?" she answered hesitantly.

The brunette reeled as the voice of the old dial shop owner came blasting out the mouth of the shell. "_UWAHHHH! Ugokimasu! Dono yō ni sore ga dōsa suru tame ni teniireta! Anata wa ima doko ni arimasu ka_?!"

"H-Hold up, hold up, you're talking way too fast!"

Then she blinked. "Wait a second, is that the _Witch_-_Ossan_?!" she demanded. "Where the heck am I? What did you _sell_ me, man?!"

"_Eh? Witch-Ossan?_" the voice in the shell echoed confusedly."_Nanite itta no?_"

"What, you no sprackin' ze English?!" Vera yelled. She was fed up with all this crap! First she was dragged on a shampoo-shopping exertion, then she fell on her head, then she finds out she was in the frickin' Skypiea Arc, then that her _age_ reversed and she had _braces_ again, then some bartering geezer starts yelling at her in Japanese through a seashell necklace?! What the heck was this, One Piece?! "Freakin'_ jiji?_! WHY AM I BACK BEFORE THE TIMESKIP?!"

**-o-O-o-**

The shopkeeper grit his teeth. _Sheesh, what language is she speaking?!_ he wondered to himself. _This won't do if I wanna find out how she did it!_

"Hold on a minute."

Walking back to the counter, he put down the golden shell and bent over, rummaging around in the cluttered space beneath. After a minute, his fingertips finally found what he was looking for. Pulling it out, he unwrapped it – sneezed at the cloud of dust that went up – and removed a special, rare dial from its place in the crusty cloth. Undisturbed for years on end, it was oddly tubelike, resembling the long, shiny form of a razor clam shell; he stuck one end into the mouth of the golden shell and twisted it. Finally, he gauged it as secure.

"There!" He picked up the whole thing, speaking into the exposed end of the rare Translator Dial. "How about now?"

**-o-O-o-**

"Congratulationsh! You can shpeak English!" Vera replied with false excitement. Her voice went flat. "I shtill hate you."

"_You were more pleasant when I _couldn't_ understand you, young lady…_"

Vera leaned back against the countertop; the translated voice had a slightly robotic tone, but at least it was in discernible English. "Well, _exshcuse_ me," she snapped back. "Watashi wa Mugiwara no kaizoku." _I'm a Strawhat Pirate._ "I've had to adjusht. Again, what just happened with thish – uh – abrupt change of shcenery, pray tell? It'sh got _shomething_ to do with thish shell I bought, right?"

She heard a crashing sound from the other end; if she had been there, she would have seen the old shopkeeper take an astonished swan dive into the wall. There was a moment of radio silence.

An awkward sweat drop ran down her temple. "Uh, hello?"

"_Y-YOU'RE A STRAWHAT PIRATE?! You're lying!_"

The brunette made an exasperated sound. She got this all the time back in the 2YL hallucination, too. "You know what? Whatever. But even if I wasn't lying, doesh it make a differensh?" she shrugged. "It'sh not like I can hurtchyou through the phone."

"Yes, but your _captain_ could! He's on this island, isn't he?!"

Vera smiled evilly. She had control of this conversation now, not to mention she loved to turn people's words against them. It made her feel clever. "I thought you shed I was lying." _Aw, I'm so bad!_

There was a pause. She waited.

"_J-Just assuming you're not…?_"

"Then I'm not the one you have to be cautious about, right?" she replied steadily. Like flipping a switch, she let him know with her tone that she was finally through joking about hurting people and whatnot. The Skypiea Arc had a lot of crap she didn't want to deal with – and if she didn't get back soon, 2YL Nami and 2YL Robin would notice she was gone from the shampoo stand and she'd never hear the end of it. "Look, osshan, I want to get out of thish place. However thish _happened_ in the first plasche. Do you know how I can do it?"

The shopkeeper seemed to hesitate. "_…_"

Then, the slightly robotic words took on a bitter tone. "_I __don't know how you can get back_."

Vera's eyebrows shot up. "Exshcuse me?" she spat through her braces, starting to panic. "You're joking, right?!"

"_B-But I think I know how you got there!_"

On the other end, the girl heard the frantic rustle of flipping pages. "_See, I bought that dial from a weird merchant with wings about a year ago –!_"

Her eyebrows settled a bit. That sounded like a Skypiean. Maybe it was a legit dial.

"_But when I bought that dial a couple years ago, he started telling me it had some kind of legend attached to it. In my old age I don't remember what he said _exactly_ – I thought it was total bull when he said it, anyway!_ _But I had a journal! Here, I wrote down _vaguely_ what he said. I thought it might make a cool concept for a short story. Maybe make a little money on the side, you know? Okay, here it is._"

In her ear, there was another pause as the Witch-Ossan read his own messy scrawl.

Then he started talking again: "_All right, no one knows where or what it came from,_" he told her."_One rumor says it was forged in ancient times and old as the city of gold itself, another says it was the random creation of a vagrant deity, blah blah blah. But however it came into being, they call it… '__**The **__**Golden **__**Cerith**__.'"_

Vera rested her hip against the sink and settled in to listen, admiring the way the dial gleamed gold in the light. "_It is, in a way, a bridge between dimensions! It responds to touch and the wishes of its holder._"

"'Wishes' of itsh holder?" she repeated.

_**She had slipped the cord over her head and thanked the old geezer, but he was too busy counting his money to pay much attention. Vera rolled her eyes, walked to the door, and pulled it open. **_**Still, it's kind of nostalgic. Sky Islands, huh?**_** she had thought to herself, smiling. **_**It would be cool to go to the Skypiea Arc, wouldn't it?**

Vera's brow furrowed. That must have been it.

"_Goodness knows I tried it. That thing would be priceless if it worked for anyone! I'd be rich! But for some mysterious reason it only works for those who have already 'transgressed a world,'_"the Witch-Ossan whined. "_Whatever _that_ means. It's probably why he sold it to me so cheap._"

No explanation needed there. "Yosh, sho I know how I got here," she said. "Doesh it shay how to get _out_?"

A page turned, then turned back. "_Well, where you are_ –"

"Yeah?"

"_It's not actually real._"

"Um, thank you. I figured," Vera replied flatly. "I've been under the influence for sheveral weeks now. I am properly ashamed of it."

Witch-Ossan apparently wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he just went on. "_From what it says here, where you are is more of a… uh, carbon copy of what you're envisioning, or what you wished._"

Vera frowned. "Sho if I get crushed by a rock or something, I'll turn up back there?"

"_No, no! Any damage you take in that place is real to you!_"

"…Well… that sucks!" the semikami grouched. "More hallucinations with pain. Nothing's changed."

"_Umm, as for getting out…_"

**-o-O-o-**

The old shopkeeper racked his dusty mind. "Ugh, I know he said _something_!" he despaired. "I didn't think I'd ever have to remember it! Oh, this old brain –!"

"_Okay, okay, okay! Don't break your head._"

**-o-O-o-**

"I get it. I always forget crap, but then it comes to me a couple minutes later when the topic has already changed and it's completely out of context," Vera reassured him. "You'll think of it."

Witch-Ossan sniffled through the cerith. "_Are you sure you're a pirate? You're so nice!_"

The brunette waved his compliment away, flattered. "Oh stop it! I really am just a rotten person at heart~!"

* * *

Outside the bathroom, Nami pressed the large end of a drinking glass to the closed door and mushed her ear against the other. "So, what's happening?!" Chopper asked.

Nami grimaced. "Why is she talking to herself in the bathroom…?" she murmured.

The rest of the crew – who had followed her from the deck out of curiosity – adopted the same dumbfounded and slightly grossed-out expression as their navigator. "_Eh_?"

* * *

Inside the bathroom, Vera scratched her head in distress. "Still, until ya remember I'm stuck in the Skypiea Arc, huh?" she mused. "Well, this is gonna be boring. Just watching all this stuff with Eneru again…"

Then, something occurred to her.

A wicked gleam entered her eye. "Wait!" she grinned, a twisted smile stretching her lips. "So, if this isn't _really_ the _past_… do I _have_ to follow the original storyline? Maybe… mix things up a little?"

Witch-Ossan sounded completely unnerved by the tone of her voice. "_I-I guess you could…_"

"HAHA!"

Vera fistpumped and laughed aloud. "Freakin' A! In that case, this'll be great~!" the semikami declared, clicking the apex of the shell. "Rosethorne out!"

"_W-wait a minute! What am I gonna do if your captain finds out! And how in the world did you –?!_"

Click.

**-o-O-o-**

The line went dead.

"DAMN!" the shopkeeper yelled, his old veiny hands flying around in frustration. "I didn't get to ask her how she managed it! And that little girl was one of the _Strawhat Pirates_?! I'm in deep trouble…!"

**-o-O-o-**

"Yahoo! So until the old man remembers how to get out of here, I get to mess with the _Skypiea_ _Arc_~!" Vera sang. She smiled to herself. "This is awesome."

_SO AWESOME~!_ Inner Fangirl spazzed.

Inner Vange gave the two a skeptical look… then rubbed her temples and sighed. _Why did I have to get stuck with these two?_ she muttered. _Look, you've 'messed with the Skypiea Arc' already! Did you catch the thing with being surrounded by your nakama Mugiwaras or did that happen in canon?!_

Vera rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm. Good point."

_Well, it'll be easy enough to get them to warm up to you again! _Fangirl chirped. _Then you can just navigate your way through this pretty easily._

"Awesome, but how am I supposed to do that?" she asked her internal voices.

Fangirl looked at Vange. Vange looked at Fangirl. _Uhh…_

"Holy geez, I forgot. I swear I have the memory of a _goldfish_!" Vera moaned, banging her head against the wall. She tried to think back. "Ughh! When did they start accepting me, anyway? It seemed to come out of nowhere, but I know there was a trigger somewhere in there –! Oh, c'mon, brain!"

Suddenly, she felt a hot, wet trickle.

Vera froze in mortal terror.

Slowly – hoping beyond all hope it wasn't what she thought it was – the girl unzipped her shorts, gripped the waistband of her underwear, and peeked inside.

… Great.

The semikami let out a long, long groan. Was this the law with periods? That they always had to come at the least opportune moments _IN THE WORLD_?!

"Nami-chaaaaan…?" Vera half-yelled, half-moaned. "Tasukete…!"

* * *

"Oi, Nami," Usopp murmured over the navigator's shoulder. "She's calling you."

The redhead scowled at him. "You think I don't know that?!" she whispered hotly. "You should be paying more attention to the fact she knows my _name_!"

Luffy marched past them both and slammed open the door. Everyone's jaw hit the floor. "Oi, how do you know Nami's name?!" he demanded.

"KYAHHHHHH!"

Luffy jumped, eyes bugging. "AHHH! There's blood! What's _wrong_ with you?!"

"YOU _DUMBASS_!" The entire crew punched him in the face and wrestled him back outside, where he received the beating of a lifetime as Nami jumped into the bathroom. She quickly shut the door and whirled on their guest, whose eye was twitching; lesson learned, she now held a hand towel politely over her junk. "What do you want?!" the older woman gasped.

"…"

"…"

**…**

Outside, the boys pressed their cheeks against the door, brows furrowed. Luffy lay behind them, barely recognizable through the blood, goose eggs, and blackening bruises as their ears burned to hear any little sound through the bathroom door.

After a couple seconds, it opened. They beat a hasty retreat to the opposite wall; Nami emerged, looking defeated.

"N-Nami-san?" Sanji said tremulously.

"Is everything all right, Navigator-san?" Robin asked.

The redhead grimaced at her and, turning, trudged down the hall to the women's quarters. Everyone looked at each other.

A few minutes later, she came back with a small bag tucked under her arm.

"Ahh…" Robin murmured in realization.

The boys took one look at that little bag, turned, and walked away without another word, dragging a groaning Luffy with them back outside as Nami went into the bathroom, set it on the counter, and walked out; a murmured thank-you followed the navigator. The archeologist chuckled. "That poor girl…"

* * *

Vera sighed and pulled out one of the items inside; then her eyes bugged at its size. "What the heck?!" she yelped. "It's a chibi! Nami, matte! How do you even get this thing _in_?!"

* * *

Nami frantically pushed at Robin's back, eyes wide. "_Go go go go go go_…!"

**.oOo.**

Back under the bright white sky, Usopp collapsed onto the deck with an exhausted sigh. "Well, at least we know she's _human_," he muttered.

"I think she's an _alien_!" Luffy confessed, a look of dread on his face.

"_An_ _alien_?!"

"Yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it?! She fell from the sky and abducted Boshi and she had _blood_ dripping down her –!"

The rubber man immediately found a very hard, very polished dress shoe in his face. "Will you get yourself a sense of tact, you shithead?!" Sanji yelled, his cheeks burning bright red. "She's a human just like any of us, no doubt about it!"

"Then what was the deal with the blood?!"

Sanji opened his mouth to answer… then blanched and closed it, realizing what he might have just done. _Aw, shit._ "Uhhh, why don't you go ask Chopper?" he suggested nervously, gesturing at their youngest crewmember at his perch on the railing. "He's the doctor."

The reindeer lowered binoculars from his bulging eyes. "_EH_?"

"Ooooo! Good idea, Sanji!" the rubber man acknowledged. He darted over to Chopper, resting his elbows on the railing beside him. "Oi, do you know what happened back there?"

The little doctor stammered awkwardly. "Eh… ah… uhh…!"

He looked around desperately for help, but Sanji had already fled to a safe distance; he slammed the binoculars back to his eyes. "I, uh, can't hear you!" the reindeer announced, a little too robotic to seem natural. "The sights are too loud!"

"Awww!" Luffy pouted.

He turned to his next nakama with a grin. "Oi! Zoro! I have a question for you!"

"Stay away from _meeeee_ –!"

The swordsman ran, pursued by Luffy as Chopper went back to his sightseeing, happily drumming his hooves against the Merry's hull – partially because he had avoided such an awkward conversation and also because he was excited! They were finally above the clouds, after all! "Where is the sky island…?" he hummed, peering eagerly through his binoculars.

Suddenly, something else came into focus.

"Huh, a ship? A ship! Hey, you guys!" he called. "A ship… and a person?"

Chopper stared intently – it looked like the person was wearing a horned _mask_ of some sort – then suddenly his jaw dropped. "Eh?"

The ship had been blown to smithereens! And the masked person was heading their way! "_EH_?!"

Sanji glanced over. "Hey. What's wrong, Chopper?" he asked. The doctor whimpered, dropping the binoculars and falling backwards off the railing with a soft _poomp_. "Is there a ship out there, Chopper?"

Taken by surprise, the little reindeer jumped back onto the banister. "No, uhh, there was, but not anymore…!" he yelled hesitantly.

Zoro and Luffy stopped their cat-and-mouse chase across the deck. "Huh?"

Chopper started spazzing, his hooves flying every which way in an attempt to communicate. "Now there's a bull and it's running straight here, it's on…!"

"You're not making sense!" Zoro told him. "Calm down!"

"What's wrong with you?" Sanji muttered.

Then he glanced up. "Eh?"

Practically flying towards them was a mysterious guerilla. It was obviously a man – one with dark skin and a long, segmented braid that flew out behind the horned tribal mask that covered his face. His torso was lean and muscled, tribal tattoos covering his upper left pectoral and shoulder. The only articles of clothing he wore were a grass skirt – some wing-type decorations of some kind – and severed claws clicking on his rope belt. In one hand he held a long, narrow shield, and in the other what looked like a long silver bazooka; its grip gilded and etched in gold. He also wore some kind of skates that propelled him across the clouds with noisy jets of air. "It's a person! Someone's coming!" the cook exclaimed. "He's running on the clouds!"

No sooner than he had uttered those words, the man jumped from the surface of the white ocean, rocketing towards the Merry. "Hey, stop! What do you want?!"

"To eliminate you!" the stranger promptly replied in a deep, gruff voice.

Sanji braced himself. "Looks like he wants to fight!"

Zoro thumbed Wado's guard in preparation to draw her blade. "Fine by me!"

"W-What's going on?!" Luffy yelped, confused.

Then the guerilla attacked.

* * *

Vera reemerged back on deck, patting her abdomen with a satisfied sigh. "Ahhh, that's better."

Only to have a familiar curly-brow cook scare the crap out of her when he smashed into the wall on her left side. "_HOLY_ _JUNK WHAT THE HECK_?!" she shrieked, nearly peeing herself as she reeled backwards.

The brunette choked back a gasp, but then she noticed a dark-skinned guy who looked a lot like a Shandian kicking the snot out of the other two members of the Monster Trio and relaxed. _Oh, it's just Wiper, _she realized._ Crud, I forgot about this part! How do they get out of this? Oh I don't remember…_

Then suddenly, it was like she saw the light. "OH! But I do remember when the Mugiwaras shtarted treating me different!" Vera exclaimed aloud. "Geez, it's just like I told the Witch-Osshan; a few minutesh later and completely out of context. It was when –!"

She looked at the dizzy Luffy sprawled on the deck. "That's right!"

* * *

Nami was appalled at the ease with which their crew's strongest fighters were so quickly defeated. "H-Hey! What's with you three?!" she demanded.

The masked guerilla sprung off the deck again, jumping high into the air and centering the crosshairs of his bazooka-like weapon on the Going Merry. "KYAAAA, HE'S GONNA SHOOT US!" Chopper wailed, eyes bulging.

"Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary…!" Usopp moaned.

Suddenly, a heroic silhouette blocked out the sun and a deep voice came from above their heads. "_**That**_ _**is far enough**_!"

* * *

Vera grabbed Luffy by the vest – who still seemed a little discombobulated from being hit so hard – and dragged him over to the side of the deck. "Yosh…!" she murmured, hauling his heavy body up onto the banister. "Oof. Upshie-daisy."

* * *

Her activity went unnoticed by the other members of the crew, who stared up in awe as what looked like a knight in shining steel armor rammed his long, heavy lance into the guerilla's shield – blasting him into the cloud ocean with a great splash. The armored figure fell from the air, landing on the Merry's wide railing in a crouch.

"What?! Who's this, now?!" Nami yelped.

The old knight stepped down from the banister, opened his mouth to answer –!

* * *

After a quick look over the edge to check the distance, Vera pushed Luffy overboard. He landed with a splash.

"Here we go!" _I hope this works…_

She jumped into the cloud ocean after him. _Sploosh!_

* * *

Chopper saw it and screamed. "UWAAAAAH! Nami, the sky girl tossed Luffy overboard!"

"_**WHAT**_?!"

Forgetting the old knight, everyone rushed to the edge and looked over.

They expected to see nothing but bubbles. But there – on the surface of the pearly white ocean, looking just as stunned as the rest of his crew – Luffy was bobbing, treading water and making sounds of disbelief. The bronze-haired girl clung to his back like an awkward starfish, looking pleased with herself.

Wait.

Luffy.

Was _treading water_?!

The Strawhat's jaws dropped. "_**Ehhhhh**_?!"

* * *

Vera smiled and shot them a peace sign. "Whassup?" Yay, she'd finally stopped with the braces lisp!

* * *

"I am the Sky Knight!" their savior proclaimed in the background. His bizarre, hot-pink and purple-spotted steed crowed in agreement. But no one was paying attention to them anymore.

"…Hello?"

**.**

* * *

**A/N: Also, remember when I said this was a competition fic? The dude I'm competing against, ****DCKiyoshi****, **_**finally**_** got his first chapter up too! I'm not sure about his alterations to this arc, but trust me, mindbombs, plot twists, and even romance (**_**yes, IC romance, it CAN be done!**_**) are to come in Brunetta6's "Skypiea Edition." Don't trust anything you saw in the original Skypiea… cuz if you're coming from SOCCP, you know you **_**never**_** know with me, ne? XDD**

**Anyway, here are his links. Let him know what you think of his work!**

DCKiyoshi's Profile: **u/4351557/DCKiyoshi**

DCKiyoshi's Skypiea Edition (Fic): **s/9371417/1/SOCCP-DCKiyoshi-s-Skypiea-Edition**

**But don't forget, in this competition the loser is the one with the least reviews. So show me some love too, click dat button below, and let me know what you thought of this chapter! See ya next time~! X3**


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